Biz Markie performs at the Mecca Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Aug. 1, 1988. Photo: Raymond Boyd/Getty Images.

Biz Markie, Clown Prince of Hip-Hop and artist behind “Just a Friend,” died Friday at age 57.

Born Marcel Hall, Markie began his career in the mid ’80s as a beatboxer with the Juice Crew in his native New York City. His first album, 1988’s Goin’ Off, was cowritten by the legendary Big Daddy Kane, his Juice Crew colleague. The fifth single, “Vapors,” became Markie’s first underground hit.

It was his second album, 1989’s The Biz Never Sleeps, that propelled Biz Markie to mainstream fame. Single “Just a Friend” became a hip-hop classic for its self-deprecating subject matter, humor and poorly-sung chorus, which only added to its charm and aesthetic. The song reached the No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Though no subsequent song reached the heights of “Just a Friend,” his talent carried him to appearances on others’ albums throughout the ’90s and ‘2000s. He had a guest spot on Will Smith’s 1999 album Willenium, three Beastie Boys albums and was even sampled on the Rolling Stones’ 1997 hit “Anybody Seen My Baby?” He also made his mark as an actor in cameos and character roles, most notably as an alien postal worker who speaks via beatboxing in “Men in Black II.” He’s toured with artists as diverse as comedian Chris Rock and the touring version of the children’s show “Yo Gabba Gabba.”

Markie was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in his 40s and, despite losing a reported 140 pounds in an effort to control his condition, in December 2020 he went into a diabetic coma and suffered a stroke as a result, leading to rumors of his death on social media throughout early 2021. His cause of death has not been disclosed.

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